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This (Is What I Wanted to Tell You) Image
Metascore
82

Universal acclaim - based on 13 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 16 Ratings

  • Summary: The latest full-length release for the alt-country band led by Kurt Wagner was produced by Matthew McCaughan (who also co-wrote several tracks with Wagner).
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 13
  2. Negative: 0 out of 13
  1. Mar 22, 2019
    90
    They’re looking forward, stepping outside of their comfort zone and creating some of the most interesting, ambitious music of their long career.
  2. Mar 28, 2019
    81
    He’s made great records before, even exciting and unexpected ones, but never one so comforting and compassionate.
  3. Mar 20, 2019
    80
    This is the musical equivalent of that final "walk" monologue from Synecdoche, New York. It's a heavy listen, but potentially a rapturous one as well, for anyone who has ever experienced a reverie of aging and all it entails.
  4. Mojo
    Mar 13, 2019
    80
    Immersive and thought-provoking record. [Apr 2019, p.87]
  5. Mar 21, 2019
    80
    They're the kind of songs you pull out once a month as reassurance that the mundanity of normal life can be beautiful, and/or we are all in this together. That's true today and it will be true tomorrow.
  6. Mar 29, 2019
    80
    Even more than on FLOTUS, the vocal effects and electronic textures of This (Is What I Wanted to Tell You) create a fractured and sometimes staggeringly beautiful sonic environment for his songwriting, which is as strong as ever here.
  7. Mar 13, 2019
    50
    If not excellent then at least vaguely enticing. [Feb-Apr 2019, p.84]

See all 13 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 2
  2. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. Apr 20, 2019
    9
    Kurt Wagner on an electronic roll right now, and it sounds as good as anything Lambchop has ever released. Masterful - lush and compassionate,Kurt Wagner on an electronic roll right now, and it sounds as good as anything Lambchop has ever released. Masterful - lush and compassionate, yet with an abrasive slightly political edge that keeps showing through. This album is a model of how to successfully reinvent yourself. Expand
  2. Apr 5, 2019
    5
    i have loved lambchop for a very long time. i once traveled to berlin to see them as i knew they weren't coming anywhere close to vancouver.i have loved lambchop for a very long time. i once traveled to berlin to see them as i knew they weren't coming anywhere close to vancouver. i, however, am finding it very hard to get behind the last two albums - the latest is even harder than FLOTUS. the songs are lush sounding and beautiful but as soon as i hear the vocoder i go cold. it's likely just the old man in me. i make fun of my daughter's musical tastes as they all have some sort of vocal manipulation going on and now here we are. i salute kurt for going his own way, redefining lambchop and what's expected, i really do. i just will stick, for now, with the back catalogue. Expand